PDQ

PDQ is a good option for fast food. PDQ’s angle is to be a chicken-​based chain that brings higher quality ingredients, service, and atmosphere with the idea that you’re short on time, not money.
Its core sandwiches are fried chicken cutlet sandwiches, fried chicken tenders, grilled poultry sandwiches, and salads. But the clear comparison to PDQ is Chik Fil-​A. Menu:
Service is prompt, but not so prompt that you can wait at the counter (like Chik Fil A). They bring you your order to your table. Cary branch Operating Director Meggan Clift has hired a group of really cheery people who seemed well trained.
One of the things that I really like about PDQ is that its exterior and interior decoration is more like a fast casual dining place rather than fast food — real booths, nice fixtures, great attention to details (eg, the hand washing station with nice soap), and good sound systems. You can hang out without the sadness associated with fast food joints.
The food is also really good, depending on what you get. In my opinion, their tenders and grilled sandwiches are fantastic. Thier fried chicken sandwiches are also really great and stack up really nicely against Chik Fil-​A — but are less salty. I appreciate their other offerings like french fries, shakes, craft sodas, and salads — but they aren’t fantastic and keep this place from being 5 stars. For example, their french fries are hand-​cut fresh potatoes, which are then oven baked to «pre-​cook» the potatoes so they aren’t sitting in oil for too long. They are then fried up to give them texture, netting to a less-​bad-​for-​you french fry but doesn’t great texture. 5 Guys have the best hand-​cut fries.
Most foods are handmade with nice ingredients, which is great. But the downside to everything being handmade is that things like salads, dipping sauces, and lemonade are not consistent. For example, their lemonade can be too sour sometimes. Their shakes cater more toward kids, being a bit heavy handed on sugar content and vanilla extract.
Prices are at a premium to typical fast food places, but lower than fast casual. For me, this place will be a place I’ll go if I am too lazy/​busy to cook, want something bad for me but not over the top unhealthy, and good (ie, tenders, grilled turkey sandwich, side salad). But I can see that being an infrequent thing. Frankly, I can see myself going to Chik Fil-​A depending on my mood. Give them a try, I think you’ll find that some things will be perfect for you.

Outstanding customer service. It’s about a 25 minute drive from where we live, and we go at least once a week. Today was free cookie day, totally awesome. Now I’ll buy a cookie everytime because they’re so delicious. My salad accidentally got mixed up, and when I asked for a new one they let me keep the old one and get a brand new one and apologized a couple times. I’ve never been treated so well. This is why I’ll be a lifetime customer, and whenever someone asks I say it’s the best chicken. Also they’ve got the great drink machine with a million different flavors.

PDQ definition: «People Dedicated to Quality»: a clean, modern environment and pricey but good quality food.
I’ve only been two or three times now, but each time was a good experience. Sure food costs more, but I do feel like I’m eating real chicken and the fries are salt and peppered, which is yummy. I’ve never had the sandwiches but my friends have and they were pretty but and looked fresh. They have that big coke machine with a billion drinks and bottled Cheerwine!
Most importantly, I didn’t get indigestion (which I usually get when I eat fast food from the additives and msg) so big bonus!

I tried PDQ for the first time at a Unilocal event held at the restaurant, and I left very impressed. They truly serve quality at PDQ because absolutely everything is made fresh. They gave us a tour of the kitchen and showed us that the chicken is even breaded and fried to order. The fries go through some 10 hour process to make sure they come out fresh. Even all of the sauces are made in house as well, really impressive.
I got to sample the fried chicken tenders and grilled chicken tenders. The chicken was extremely moist and juicy. They simply tasted a lot fresher and were bigger than chicken tenders from other fast food competitors. The fried chicken tenders weren’t overly greasy or coated in a thick batter either. It’s a nice simple coating that just gives the chicken the crunch it needs and really highlights the freshness of the chicken as opposed to drowning it in grease. The fried chicken sandwich was also really good, and the lettuce, tomato, and especially the pickles are super fresh. The french fries are a little thicker than shoe string fries, but do have the fresh cut taste to them. They were not overly salty and did not have that processed taste them. All of the sauces were a hit with me. I especially loved the siracha sauce, chipotle BBQ sauce, and the buffalo sauce.
Overall, everything was extremely fresh and really good. The restaurant is really impressive for casual fast food, and I would highly recommend it if you want good, quality chicken at a very reasonable price.

Came here for a Unilocal Pajama party. I was impressed. Finally a place I can take my dad the heart patient and not hear my mom complain about it.
First, everything is fresh. Everything is breaded to order. So none of your meat is stagnant. This place has only chicken and turkey and both grilled and crispy varieties are delectable. The Angus sandwich was designed by a chef at a stakehouse called Angus Barn.
The fries are the yummiest thing they serve. These fries are very loved and it shows. They go through a rigid climate controlled process and the result is yummy.
The last thing I tried yesterday was the mint oreo milkshake. It was very very good. The oreo chunks were a bit big, but none the less delectable.
Next time I will be getting the turkey crispy sandwich with fries. Mostly likely a milkshake from them is also in the near future. This place is well worth your time.
This place is very clean and well organized.

Homemade sauces– check (favorite was the honey barbecue or the ranch)
Hand breaded chicken– check
Clean and inviting atmosphere and location– check
Great service-​check
Fresh food– check (everything is made in house and they don’t have a freezer or microwave on the premise). My favorite was the angus barn chicken sandwich – it’s of the quality of a bar and grill you would go to. Amazing!!!
Quality food– check
Homemade milkshakes made with milk and real ice cream-​check
I think I’m done with all fast food except for PDQ! Can’t wait to go back!

After taking the tour I have to say they are really putting out quality food. All the chicken is hand breaded to order? All sauces are made in store? They even have anchovies to make their own Caesar dressing and they make their own croutons. No freezers, no microwaves, Salads cut to order, and those fries take hours to prepare. The kitchen is clean from the fry area to the walk in refrigerator. The staff are all very friendly as well. Thanks for hosting a great event!

We were invited to attend a Unilocal Elite holiday event at PDQ.
The management were all beyond kind and gracious. Thank you for your hospitality.
This place rocks !! Everything is fresh made in house every day. The sauces are all kept refrigerated until served.
We tried most every item on the menu. My favorite was the fried chicken strips. The grilled strips were good too. The fries are NOT greasy at all !!! They are made from fresh cut potatoes and go through quite a process from start to final product.
Mint Oreo shake — DELICIOUS !!!
Who knew that PDQ was a subsidiary of Outback.

My first visit to PDQ and when I first arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see a hand washing station promoting healthy hands. The prices are reasonable and the atmosphere casual. As I go to take a seat I have to search for a clean table bc either table tops need wiped or floor sweeped under table. When my food is ready I try a French fry first and immediately love how well seasoned and crispy it is. I really like the sauce options. The chicken had a dark color to it, like it had been fried to long or old oil. As I ate the 8 piece nuggets I find all most all of them have grisel making them very chewy and unappealing. I see on the board the nugget is new so maybe you should try the tender.

I was nice enough to have a tour of this PDQ by one of the managers. I don’t have much experience with how a fast food place is run but I imagine PDQ does things a differently. The name stands for People Dedicated to Quality. That’s a great name but I wanted to know how PDQ set itself apart from other chains. Here’s what I learned.
PDQ is a local grown business. It was started at first by a small family and the name originally was called Tenders. Slowly it grew and branched out the name was changed to PDQ. The mission of the restaurant is to serve not only the best quality food but also experience to customers. From the drinks to the fries the goal of providing a quality product is attempted. The lemonade is freshly squeezed, salads are made to order and the sauces are made in house daily from corn syrup free ingredients. The chicken is free range and breaded in house. The fries go through an extensive process before they ever arrive on your food tray. None of the food sits under a hot lamp waiting to be served. I was really amazed at the quality of the food and how it’s prepared.
The company tries to make the actual experience of eating there different. You don’t drive up to a speaker to have your order taken. You talk to a actual person at a window. This prevents mistakes in taking orders or problems hearing the customer. There’s one person dedicated to just check your order before it’s given to you in the drive through. Nothing is worse than opening a bag after going somewhere and realizing something was forgotten.
All this is great but I’m sure you’re wondering how the food tastes? I tried all of it but their new honey nuggets. All of it was good. My favorite sandwich was the crispy turkey. The breading had a great crunch to it. There were pickles that had a nice crispness to them and kicked the sandwich up a notch. PDQ is trying a new type of bun. It’s a brioche bun and the texture goes great with the sandwiches. It’s soft and tender but doesn’t get soggy and fall part. The honey mustard salad was the best in my opinion but the caesar and grilled chicken with blue-​berry vinaigrette dressing was great too. There’s several sauces to try and you can get them with any of your orders.
In the end I came away really impressed with PDQ. Their prices are a little higher then their competition but you have to consider the quality of what you’re getting. They are a restaurant that is a level above your average or even good fast food place. The mission to provide quality food and service will have me coming back and recommending them to my friends.

Had a nice quiet and quick dinner with my wife. We both had salads. She had the grilled chicken Caesar salad with a little extra dressing. I had the grilled chicken salad with a blueberry curry vinaigrette.
Both salads looked positively spot on. The chicken was still hot and juicy. They are a little light on the side for me. But that I can eat a 2 pound vegetable only salad for lunch. The tossed is a nice option but they go a little light.
To take it up notch for me would to offer fresh ground pepper out of a huge mill or freshly ground Parmesan cheese. And maybe a wonderful small hot brioche roll with the salad.
But 4 stars for a fast food place is awesome! For dessert we both got small milkshakes. Those huge straws are a riot!

I stopped in the Cary PDQ to get a chicken tender fix. I have been to other PDQ locations in Durham and N. Raleigh, but this was my first visit to the Cary location. (Their stores are all built the same and seem identical).
When I went up to the counter there was no-​one there and it actually took a minute for someone to address me. This was a minor inconvenience, but odd since the other PDQ’s I have visited stood out with the customer service. I also noticed that this location seemed a lot less crowded than the others I went to. Not sure if this is always the case. The location is actually in a growing part of Cary, so I thought they would be a lot busier.
I went with the 4-​piece tender and the blueberry cole-​slaw to be healthy and switch things up a bit. Tenders were good, coleslaw was too, but I didn’t really think the blueberries fit in well (And I do like Blueberries). It was just a lot different than what I am used to. I will probably go with the fries next time.
The price point is high at PDQ’s. I know that Chick-​fil-​a offers a lot better value, but on occasion PDQ is a nice alternative.

Hit or miss. Last time was a miss. Chicken was rubbery. Had to leave it on the plate I couldn’t chew threw it. I almost questioned if the chicken was done but it didn’t look pink. Just a bad piece of chicken with tendons running through it. I think I will leave my fried chicken fix at BoJangles or Chick Fil A.

My husband and I recently went here for the first time after a recommendation from my brother who goes to the PDQ in Wake Forest. Unfortunately, as is our experience with most restaurants in Cary, the quality here isn’t as good.
We both ordered a shake and a spicy buffalo tenders sandwich. It was shortly before 5:00 pm and we should have been able to get our shakes for half price as they have a shake «Happy Hour» from 3 – 5 pm everyday, however, we paid full price. Ok, no biggie. The sandwiches were actually quite good. Tasted fresh and had good flavor overall. The shakes though we’re so starchy that I felt like I had a brick in my stomach after finishing it. He ordered and vanilla and I ordered a chocolate peanut butter. They literally were completely tasteless as well. I’m not sure if this is typical of PDQ locations of if someone just went crazy with corn starch here, but I have never had a shake that was so bad before and that made me sick to my stomach immediately after consumption.
Would I go back? If I’m really hankering for a chicken sandwich (rarely happens) then maybe. Otherwise, absolutely not. As a said, this is typical of Cary. I’d probably try a different location sometime if I think about it.

I’d love to give this place 4 stars but since it opened, it has definitely gone down a bit with both freshness and sanitation. I absolutely love their grilled chicken salad ingredients and sub out with crispy chicken. It’s just inconsistent.
Décor is pleasant and I love how you can wash your hands right out in the dining area using Yardley soaps:)
If management steps it up to maintain cleanliness and serves hot fresh food every time, they will go far. I actually prefer them over CFA when they’re at their best.

Love coming here for fast meals. Always very clean and friendly. Doesn’t have the same feel as a typical fast food restaurant does. Very open and bright setting. Chicken is always done well. Healthy options too. Loved the chicken salad with crispy tenders on a bed of fresh greens and tomatoes. Good portion and filling. Mike added a couple more tenders to his salad for only a couple more dollars. Friendly voice calks out your name to pick up your food. Cleanest restroom I’ve seen in a fast food environment.

My family enjoys chicken. They grew up as the generation that didn’t know chicken nuggets weren’t a particular part of a chicken. That said, we get the chicken tender platters often. We really enjoy when they are BOGO. Real breast meat chicken tenders, some fries with a variety of sauces makes for smiling teens. For fast food, I’d say they’re right up there w chick Fila for quality & better taste. Good food, fast! with a smile. doesn’t disappoint

I’ve only been there once but I can say I much prefer Chick-​fil-​A over PDQ. I wasn’t that impressed with the chicken sandwich nor the french fries. Based on the reviews though it may be worth trying it again. I went with my family and they also were not that impressed. It was like chicken I could make it home.

They were running an unusual whimsical special, «Brown shoes day» which was anyone wearing brown shoes that day would get three free chicken tenders. I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a try!
The chicken tenders are sizeable, very meaty and good! I will definitely come back to try one of their grilled chicken or grilled turkey sandwiches and the blueberry cole slaw sounds interesting.
They have a much nicer décor for a fast food place than I expected and the employees are super friendly.

I’ve been hearing a lot about this fast food joint that’s been popping up all over the Triangle area recently. I had an opportunity to stop by the drive-​thru last night after feeling famished from my yoga workout. It was way to late to grab food anywhere else I wanted so I decided heck why not give them a shot.
I was nervous that everything was going to be fried. And even though the majority of the menu does look like fried chicken fingers and turkey I was surprised to find some healthier options available. I ordered up the grilled chicken salad that came with their homemade blueberry ginger dressing. The salad was topped with grilled chicken tenders, tomato, candied almonds and craisins. I really liked this mixture of toppings I’m sure those candied almonds are terrible for you by dammit they taste good.
The chicken did not taste like it came from a fast food restaurant at all. I wish they served just the grilled chicken tenders on the menu, I’d eat here everyday.
I’d like to check out PDQ when I’m not watching everything I’m eating so I can indulge a little and see what this place is really all about. However finding a fast food joint that offers healthy choices that actually taste good gets a big high five from me.
To top it all off the customer service was great these folks even at 9pm while they were packing up, made sure to call me by my first name and were so friendly. Just one more reason to come back here.
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